camp update

It has been a few weeks since I've written anything here. Boy, this summer has been crazy busy!! But what can I say.... it's summer camp! :-)

We have completed the first 5 weeks of camp, and let me just tell you that, without a doubt, God has been at work. At the very beginning of the summer, I read a devotion and was led to ask the Lord to "rain" on our ministry at camp this year. I had the sense that He was really going to "pour down" blessings this summer, and He certainly has! In 5 weeks, we've had around 80 decisions for Christ (there were 67 for the whole summer last year), along with 50 or 60 rededications. People, that is amazing. That is nothing but GOD raining down His presence and blessings on His children!! We as a camp staff are exhausted, stressed, and happy, and the kids are having a blast, but above all, God is working. This is eternal stuff. This is lives being changed forever. And I thank God, again and again, for letting me be a part of it.

content..?

This morning, I walked from the lodge up to the dining hall for the pre-breakfast staff meeting. I left the lodge a little earlier than the others, so I could have those few minutes alone to pray at the start of the day. It was chilly, rays of sun were streaming through the trees, and a mist was rising off the surface of the lake. As I walked, I whispered to God, "Thank you for the beauty of a new day...for the beauty of being so small in the midst of your greatness...and for the beauty of being right where You and I both know I need to be."

It's now almost exactly 12 hours later. It's been a busy day full of phone calls, registrations, errands, etc, and now I have a little time off before tonight's campfire service. I just read this Scripture:

"I have learned to be content in whatever circumstance I am... in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need." (Philippians 4:11-12)

Those are not words I can honestly say. Because I am not always content.

Right now, I am content in some things. I'm content with my job at camp -- although there are hard days, like any job -- but mostly I am happy and content with this.

However, I am NOT content to be a single woman right now. This is the BIG THING that God and I have spent many hours wrestling over. This is where I cannot honestly speak the words written in Philippians. Paul might have learned the secret of being content no matter what... but apparently I have not learned that secret yet, at least not in the area of singleness. I still pray that God will teach me that secret.

A few minutes ago, I read this quote on another blog (which is what led me to this Scripture). This was posted on The Girl With The Smile 's blog.

"Contentment occurs when Christ's strength is infused into my weak body, soul, and spirit. To infuse means to pour, fill, soak.... How does God enable us to be content? He infuses contentment into us."

Yes. ‎That's what I want.

quiet Sunday morning

It's 10:30am. I'm sitting on one of the ancient, lumpy couches in the staff lodge, listening to soft Christian music and the sound of the leaky faucet dripping in the kitchen. There is some action outside as one of the weekend retreat groups is getting ready to leave this morning, but everyone else in the lodge is still asleep upstairs.

I found the last bottle of orange juice in the refrigerator this morning, and was super excited about that. Love my orange juice in the morning.

Before coming downstairs, I spent some time reading my Bible and praying. The passage I read is still echoing in my mind.

"Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped (or asserted), but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant." (Philippians 2:2-7)

God spoke to me through this today, and I pray that He keeps reminding me of it throughout this week.

Some other things are dancing around in my head, too... some questions, some ideas, some dreams. Things that will continued to be talked about and prayed about, and we'll see what God might have up His sleeve. Dreams that move the mountains...that's what faith can do!

And week 3 of camp begins this afternoon. I wonder what God will do this week.... keep us in your prayers, please?

And it begins.... Summer 2011

One week of summer staff moving up to camp, and working together to get camp ready for kids. Then, the first official week of Summer Camp 2011. That's what my life has been since the last update! It's been a great 2 weeks overall. I love the people I get to work with, and so glad summer camp has begun and we get to be a part of God's work in children's lives.... as well as experiencing His work in our own lives.

Highlights of the past two weeks:
reunions with friends
evenings on the dock watching the stars
lots and lots of laughing
back rubs
hearing God speak in the quiet of the morning
getting lost and almost driving to North Carolina
Ultimate Frisbee
wiffle-ball
spiritual discussions with the camp pastor
mysterious insects
good moments with good friends
being myself and feeling at home
the arrival of children
talking with kids about their favorite parts of camp
watching counselors pray with kids
19+ decisions for Christ

God is already at work.... Lord keep raining down Your presence and Your blessings!!

what if Your blessings come through raindrops?

I have probably listened to this song about twenty-million times in the last 2 days. Well... okay, maybe not that many times... but definitely a lot.
The past couple of weeks have been weird. I've been drifting from happy/excited, to frustrated, to kind of melancholy, and back to happy. There are reasons for these feelings, but I won't go into details of circumstances here.

What matters is that Jesus, my Savior, is Lord of my life, and I can rest in knowing that He loves me and has good plans for me. A line from that song says, "What if my greatest disappointment and the aching of this life is a revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy?" So true. Disappointment and pain are inevitable, but if it drives me closer to God and causes me to reach out to Him... then it's worth it.

His love and patience..... are beautiful.
"You hear each desperate plea, and long that we'd have faith to believe."

waiting ain't fun..

Do you know what it's like to be waiting for something and to feel like your whole life, every breath, is on hold until it comes?

Do you know what it's like to want something so bad that you can't even pray for it... all you can say is, "Please, God"?

And you tell yourself again and again that it will all happen in God's perfect timing. That He is maturing and perfecting me in the process of waiting. That He is my satisfaction and completeness and peace, whether the awaited-event comes or not.

But it doesn't make it any easier.

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord."

grass and sweat... mmm.

I love the smell of fresh-cut grass.

I hope that when I get married, my husband will go out and mow the yard and come back smelling like grass and sweat. Love it.

Is that weird?

wouldn't you say that life is beautiful?

Just as I was about to start writing this post, someone knocked on my front door. It was 2 of the guys I work with at camp. Apparently, they, along with one of the other guys and his girlfriend, had decided to make a "fancy" dinner for all of us in the Dining Hall, and they wanted to know if I had any candles. I happened to have a couple of vanilla scented candles, so I took those and we went to the Dining Hall, where the 5 of us had a candlelight dinner together. Random? Yes, but quite fun. Man, these coworkers of mine... gotta love 'em!! :-)

This past week has seemed really long. On Monday night, my whole small group came out to camp. We hung out by the lake, went canoeing, and had a campfire. It was sooo much fun! I'm really thankful for that new group of people God has put in my life in the past few months. They have really been a source of encouragement to me. I can't wait until Monday nights roll around each week, and am really going to miss it during the summer!

Our office at camp is getting a MUCH-needed remodel, so we've been working on that a lot this week. I have a brand-new, custom-built desk, and the walls are being repainted. It's going to look fabulous when it's done.

The countdown to Briana's wedding.... one week away! Unbelievable. I hope all the details are worked out and it's a gorgeous day for them. After I get back from the wedding, it will be a week until our first group of summer campers arrives. Crazy.

Okay, enough Ashley's life updates for one night. More could be said, because life is pretty crazy and adventurous...... and beautiful :-) I'll just leave you with this thought: don't forget to look for the beauty, the fingerprints of God, in every day of your life.

(if you want to see the lyrics, click here to go to the actual YouTube page, and the lyrics are there.)

Fast Forward Life

This has been an interesting week. In fact, all of life is just interesting right now! Briana's wedding is in 16 days, and summer camp starts in 24 days. Add the rest of "life" into that madness... and there you have it. I told my dad the other day, that I feel like every aspect of life is in fast-forward right now, and it's not gonna go back to a normal pace for quite awhile!

Today and yesterday, we've had a volunteer work group here at camp, working on various projects, and we've cooked each meal for them. They leave this afternoon, and tonight begins our first-ever Father/Son Retreat. We're not sure how many people to expect to show up for this... could be anywhere from 5 to 50. We will also be cooking meals for them, as well as running some activities tomorrow. And tonight... my boss has asked me to play my guitar for the worship service with the fathers/sons. A few people will be singing with me, but I'll be the only one playing. I've just taught myself to play guitar over the last several months, and have never played in public before. I'm nervous!!!!

The past couple of mornings, I've been reading in Romans 12:9-21. Briana and I memorized this passage when we were younger, but I've only in recent years realized how much good, challenging truth it contains. The phrase that spoke to me this morning was in verse 9: "Cling to what is good."

No matter what.